Life-boat.



No. 677,760. n I Panama my 2, |901. B. GIANESE.

LIFE BoAT.

. (Application med sept'. 12, 1899.)

(No Model.)

f'y. Z

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

BENVENUTO GIANESE, OF GENOA, ITALY.

LIFE-BOAT.

SPEUIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 677,760, dated July 2, 1901.

Application filed September 12, 1899. Serial No. 730,209. (No model.)

To cir/ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, BENVENUTO GIANESE, a subject ofthe King of Italy,residing at Genoa, in the Kingdom of Italy, have invented cer` tain Improvements in Life-Boats, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in the Kingdom of Italy, dated February 13, 1899, Reg. Att., Vol. CVI, No. 115,) of which the following is a specification.

My present invention has for its object to provide an apparatus to be used on board of ships in place of the usual life-boats for saving the crew and passengers of Vessels in case of shipwrecks or other casualties at sea, the principal feature of my said apparatus being that it can be readily and automatically thrown overboard in any case of emergency without any danger of its being submerged.

The invention therefore consists in a lioating apparatus which may be easily thrown overboard at the required moment at the will of the captain or other officer.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 shows a transverse section of the Heating apparatus on its supports and means to hold it therein. Fig. 2 is an outside view of the same, and Fig. 3 represents two apparatuses placed alongside each other on board the vessel and the system of releasing them.

As will be seen from the drawings, the novel apparatus consists of a raft or iioat divided into two parts a b, connected together by means of a hinge c or other suitable means. The two parts of the ioat on the side opposite to their connection are preferably provided with guards. The parts of the iioat may have a rectangular or any other geomet-` rical form. The reason of the float being divided into two hinged parts is to keep it on the deck of the ship in a comparatively small place.

As it is essential that the float be practically insubmergible and adapted to support the largest possible number of persons, it will be constructed of sheet metal and hollow and divided into a considerable number of Watertight empty chambers. These chambers, however, may be filled with wood or cork or else may beformed of beams of solid wood or joined together in network form, the empty spaces being filled with cork, so as to 'of the float.

diminish the specific weight and increase the tloatin g capacity of the apparatus or with any other suitable material arranged so as to meet the above requirements.

As is seen from Fig. 1, the oat is placed on supports d, fixed on deck of the ship in direction of its length, so that the float is inclined toward the sea and ready to slide down when released on the inclined surface, as will be explained hereinafter. The supports e, Figs. l, 2, and 3, placed on the sides of the ship in front of the iioats, serve to prolong lthe inclined surface to facilitate the sliding down The two parts a and b may be connected together by means of hookfand cavity g or any other suitable means, so as to lie in the same plane. y

The iioat is kept in place on its supports by a carriage h, running in guides t', as Ais clearly seen from Figs. 1, 2, and 3. This carriage by means of wheels or rollers -c runs in grooves Z, provided on side a of the iioat. In this side of the float are cut the grooves Z, Fig. 2, which are broader than the wheels and rollers k. A rod m, hinged at n and fixed in this point to the support d, enters the cavity O in the under side of the float, so that its side is rigidly iixed. The side b is held on the support by pivotp, placed so thatA when part h of the iioat bears with its under side on the surface of the support d the pivot is free to slide out of the cavity g when the iioat is placed as is shown in Fig. 1.

The arrangement of the floats on board a ship is shown in Fig. 3, where two oats are represented placed on the deck. The vcarriages h are worked by a system of cords making circuit around the commanders bridge or other suitable point of the vessel on a suitable roller r, actuated by wheels s or other equivalent means. It is evident that by turning wheel s on one side the cord on the roller is simultaneously wound up on one side and unwound on the other, and the carriage at the right hand will run in the guide e' in a direction opposite to that of the carriage at the left. To disengage the floats at the desired moment, it will therefore be sucient to turn the Wheel S so as to move the carriages both in the one and in the other direction until the wheels or rollers 7c will slide out of IOO groove Z, ,so as to be in front of grooves Z. Part ct of the float will slidevby its own Weight onto support e. Rod m, disengaged from cavity o, has then fallen on support d, and pivot p will slide, as has been said, in groove q and the iioat will fall overboard.

To prevent the float from being carried too far from the ship, I provide a cord of suitable length, fixed by a hook at one end, which may be easily unhooked or cut after the people have embarked.

From the above it Will be easily understood that any number of fioats may be readily caused to slide overboard from a ship by disengaging them from their described fastening devices by means of an endless cord, as above mentioned.

Besides Jthe system of fastening devices above described other systems may as Well be used and the fastening devices placed in other points of the iioats than those described.

As to the float itself, hooks and rings may be placed on its upper part, and rudders,

,'coids, and other objects useful to the ship- In order to arranged, however, in such position Vas not to prevent the sliding down of the iioat.

Having now fully described my said invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my invention is- 1. A life-saving apparatus comprising inclined guides, a float constructed of hinged sections supported on said guides and adapted to slide thereon, a retaining device adapted to engage the lower Section of the iioat to hold the same back, and means for moving said retaining device to release the float, substantially as described.

2. The combination of an inclined guide, the supports located in front thereof in the continuation of the incline, afloat supported on the incline and adapted to slide thereon, the retaining device engaging the iloat, and means for moving the retaining device to release the Vfloat, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

BENVENUTO GIANESE.

IVitnesses:

LUIGI CUoHi, E. V. DoBiuLovICHI. 

